December 7, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Charity on Trial: What You Need to Know Before You Give
by Doug White
Charities have been allowed to operate with a minimum of oversight, writes Doug White, a consultant to charities and donors. But donors should demand to know what exactly happens with their money after they turn it over to a charity.
Mr. White describes questionable, unethical, illegal, and shadowy activities in which charities have been involved, including criminal conspiracy and embezzlement, support of terrorist organizations, and the simple misuse of an organization’s money by its officials.
While acknowledging that most nonprofit organizations are not deliberately corrupt, Mr. White says that some charities just don’t do enough good.
“Some charities should go out of business,” he writes. “The IRS approves tens of thousands each year, and most of them — plus a lot of the charities that have been around for a while — don’t elevate society very much.”
The author exhorts donors to demand that the charities they support be accountable, accessible, and responsible with their money; he also suggests ways that boards and nonprofit groups can become more trustworthy.
“All charities need to be able to run their shop the best way they see fit, but they also need to explain what is going on,” Mr. White concludes. “And they should do this before, not after, a gift is made.”
Publisher: Barricade Books, 185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 308-A, Fort Lee, N.J. 07024; (201) 944-7600; fax (201) 944-6363; http://www.barricadebooks.com; 304 pages; $24.95; ISBN 1-56980-301-3.
